The Desire's Rose
by Artemis Moonsong
Summary: Just another day. Just another Herbology class. Professor Sprout introduces the trio to a horror, a torture, a pain unlike any they've ever witnessed before. One that comes from their hearts' deepest desires. ...Maybe it's not just any other day....
1. The Desires Rose

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Harry Potter. Nor do I own Justice League. I just like to blend them sometimes. Tee hee. 

Author's Note: No worries. I didn't actually mix HP with JL. I just took an plot device of JL, which I don't own, and put HP character's in with it and changed it a lot.

Anywho, our dear Professor Sprout will explain what the Desire's Rose does and is. If you have any questions, put them in your review, which, if you are a good reader, you will give me.

Set in 6th year. There'll be a chapter for every character's reality. Not EVERY character, you know what I mean.

And a little note from me about me. I only started getting the reviews you wonderful people emailed to me a few chapters through in Ron's Journal. I was just reading the earlier ones and I wish I could reply to them all. I have read Louise Renison's Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging, On the Bright Side I'm Now the Girlfriend of a Sex God, Knocked Out by My Nunga-Nungas and Dancing In My Nuddy-Pants. Yes. That's what I wanted to say.

**Chapter 1**

**Desire's Rose**

"Ronald Weasley! If you don't give me back my book, I will not be held responsible for my actions! Or your injury!" Hermione Granger yelled as she chased Ron down the corridor to Herbology in the green houses.

"It's just a book, for Merlin's sake, Hermione!" Ron called over his shoulder. He worried about that girl sometimes. She took things way too seriously.

"Ron," she snarled, "I haven't finished it yet!"

"Why are you reading something called-" he glanced at the cover "-A Walk to Remember anyway! Sounds truly boring to me!"

"That's because...you have...the mental capacity...of a Blast-Ended Skrewt!" she shouted, panting and slowing down. Ron was in a bit better shape, being in Quidditch and all. He laughed and Hermione watched his laughing crimson head speed away.

She stopped and grabbed her knees, breathing hard. Harry jogged up beside her.

"I didn't know you liked Skrewts that much, 'Mione," he said quietly, grinning knowingly.

"Shut up, Harry." She shoved her best friend playfully. They continued down to the greenhouses, talking casually.

"Welcome back, 6th years," Professor Sprout cried cheerfully. She looked ridiculous in a flower pot hat with a small live sunflower bobbing around on top of it. Some of the class of Gryffindors and Slytherins mumbled replies, but the rest of them were too miffed at being in a class of Gryffindors and Slytherins. Afternoon sunlight drifted lazily through the dirty glass ceiling. "Today we'll be studying-" she paused for suspense here "-the Desire's Rose." The class quieted now. This might actually seem interesting to someone other than Neville.

"Now," Professor Sprout continued, "the Desire's Rose is a parasitic plant. Yes, Ms. Granger, we know you know what that means. Anyway, for our lesson today, you will make groups of three, first of all. Then, in turn, each of you will make contact with the Rose. Now what this lovely plant does is feeds your mind the information it needs to create a new reality, a dream world. It finds what is in the life you wish for yourself more than anything, and it makes you believe it is real. Even if you don't think that this is what you want, it truly is your deepest desire. It even gives you memories of earlier times in that 'reality'. Then it feeds off your happiness. Not so much as Dementors do, but you'll be so elated you won't notice anyway.

"As for your partners, you will write down what is happening to the victim." Some of the class muttered at the use of the word 'victim'. "Any shudders, twitches, eyes moving under eyelids, anything of that sort. You will also note the state of the Rose as the victim's dream progresses. When it goes into full bloom, you will remove it from your partner. Then the next of you will try it and so on. Sound fun?"

It sounded more interesting than the things they had studied last week. Medusa Vines. Ron shuddered just thinking about them.

Obviously Harry, Hermione and Ron were partners.

"I wonder what it looks like," said Ron, curiously reaching for the box on the table next to them. He pulled it to him, opened the top and peered in. Black vines twisted and squirmed, all surrounding a purple core. A rose? No. More like a Fly Trap.

"Ron, don't-" Hermione said, reaching to smack Ron's childishly outstretched hands away. But too late. Ron's blue eyes widened in surprise and he cried out as the plant lashed onto his arms and crawled up with terrible speed, to settle the core in the center of his chest. It secured itself with it's vines around his arms, neck and torso before...

"Ow!" Ron cried, as the core stuck a long, thin needle into his chest. Then he drooped and his eyes fluttered close. Harry and Hermione grabbed him before he fell and sat him on a stool. Hermione was fascinated, but she took this opportunity to get her book back, before getting some parchment and a quill and scribbling down everything. Harry watched Ron.

* * *

_Ron woke up suddenly and sat up in his Gryffindor four poster bed. He had had the strangest dream. He couldn't even remember it now, though. Shaking his head to get rid of that sleepy feeling, he stood up, yawned and stretched._

_"Ron! Hurry up! We're going to be late for Quidditch!" Harry Potter yelled up the stairs. Ron's best mate was always up too early._

_Quidditch. Ron had nearly forgotten about the game against Slytherin today. Nearly. He got dressed quickly and ran down the stairs. Harry was lounging on the couch and Hermione was reading a book in her chair. Her hair looked fantastic. Ron would bet that it felt like a cloud._

_She saw him, set down her book, got up and walked over._

_"About time," Harry mumbled, picking up Hermione's book and looking it over._

_"Good morning, handsome," Hermione said quietly, leaning up to give him a good morning kiss. He kissed her back. Merlin, could that girl kiss. And he was right, her hair was smooth as silk._

_"Yeah yeah, hurry up, you two," Harry urged. He was already waiting at the portrait hole._

_They broke the kiss. "Good morning," Ron said, without stuttering or his voice breaking. Hermione looked up at him happily._

* * *

"Look at his face," Harry told Hermione in the greenhouse. Ron's face was plastered with a dopey grin, and he sighed just then. Harry guessed to himself what Ron was dreaming.

Hermione wrote down that the Rose was beginning to blossom. The shell opened in two parts, like a mouth, like an oyster. A light scent floated out from inside it.

* * *

_They all ran down to the Quidditch pitch, Ron and Hermione holding hands. They said their goodbyes at the entrance to the stands and then Ron and Harry rushed to the room where the rest of the team sat. Harry took a seat with the rest of them and Ron stood in front of them all._

_As Gryffindor's team Captain, he was supposed to give a bit of a pep talk._

_"Now team, this one's for the Quidditch Cup. We can beat Slytherin like that," he snapped a twig in his hand. "We've done it before and we can do it again. Now get out there and…well…just don't fall off your brooms." The team laughed._

_They headed out._

_On his LightRacer broom, the fastest one on the market now, he lead the team to the skies. He took his place at the goal hoops and guarded them mercilessly. The score was 260 to 0 when Harry caught the Snitch._

_The crowd erupted. Ron landed and the team lifted him on their shoulders. Hermione ran down from the stands and, when the team let him go, kissed him so that his ears turned red._

_Ginny let a box of Fred and George's Frighteningly Fantastic Fireworks go above their heads._

* * *

"Look, Harry! It's blooming!" The horribly ugly purple core was opening all the way, the petals stretching like they had just woken up. The petals were a dark purple, changing to a blue so deep it was almost black towards the center. It smelled like a dream.

"Alright, class. Listen up! That means you, Mr. Malfoy. If the Roses bloom fully, it is time to detach them. Pour a sprinkle of the powder in the jars I've given each group onto the center."

Hermione administered the powder and the Rose seemed to die. The vines began to recoil and the shell began to close.

* * *

_The fireworks faded and the early summer day became freezing cold. Sounds of things crawling in the stands and the screams of students broke Ron and Hermione's kiss. He held her close as they froze in the center of the mayhem._

_Dementors swooped down and flew in a circle like vultures above the team. Death Eaters ran through the entrances to the pitch and stood in a circle around them as well._

_Spiders. Everywhere. Spiders climbing on the goal hoops and over the stands and coming towards them. All different sizes, all horrible looking. Then a high-pitched, cruel laugh._

* * *

Ron's face was pale and contorted with fear. His breathing got faster and he sat straight up against the wall of the green house. "His face..." Hermione said, and grabbed his hand. It was so cold. His hand clutched Hermione's and his eyes flew under their lids.

* * *

_Voldemort suddenly stood before them, his black robes billowing in a gust of icy wind. He appeared inside the circle of grinning Death Eaters and skulking spiders that surrounded Ron, Hermione and the team. His eyes burned with malice, and he sneered murderously._

_He nodded sharply, once, and the Death Eaters simultaneously pulled out their wands and cast Crutacious Curses on Harry and the team, excluding Ron and Hermione. Another gust of wintry wind. Ron closed his eyes in pain as he heard his friends screaming. There was nothing he could do. He hated it._

_Another nod from Voldemort, and the Curses stopped._

"_Weasley," he growled. His pale hand snaked out like a whip and grabbed Hermione, pulling her to him with his long fingers. He had her next to him, gently stroking her face, before Ron could even react._

_"Don't touch her!" Ron yelled as he pulled out his wand and pointed it at the disgusting shell of a man._

_Voldemort smirked mockingly and pushed Hermione towards the Death Eater nearest him. Snape grabbed her and held her. She, on reflex, threw her hands up to where his hand was holding tightly on her hair. He pulled her head back, exposing her neck. He pointed his wand at her throat. Her eyes were full of tears, but didn't spill. Another Death Eater came and took her wand. Then together, he and Snape forced her to her knees, both pointing their wands and eyes directly at her. She kneeled, her eyes wide open in fear._

_Voldemort caught Ron with a whispered spell and grabbed him. He, too, held his captive by the hair. He prodded Ron's throat with his wand._

_"You die alone," he hissed in Ron's ear. Voldemort swung Ron's head in Hermione's direction. He saw Snape back away from the spider Hermione had become._

* * *

The Rose closed completely, pulling the needle out of Ron's chest. It fell off him, onto the floor and his eyes snapped open. Harry levitated the shriveled Rose back into the box, unwilling to touch it until he absolutely had to.

Hermione quickly let go of Ron's hand when she met his eyes. They were cold and sad and hollow. His breathing returned to normal and he sagged against the wall.

Professor Sprout waddled over. "Well done, Ronald. Here take this." She handed him a small blue leaf. "Eat it." Ron didn't even bother to grimace, he just slid it in his mouth and chewed slowly.

Harry patted him on the back, but he just kept glancing nervously at Hermione.

* * *

A/N: Alright. That was horrible I think. Not enough detail and so on. Please review. I'm going to fix it. I just want to see if you guys think this is a good idea for a story or what? REVIEEEEEEEEEEEEW!

Edit: I fixed it up pretty well I believe. I added more detail and such. I'm happier with it. I really only posted it before to see if you all liked it.

And a personal note. My mother FINALLY got me the internet! So expect regular posts, because even though I haven't ha net access, I've had computer access, so I've been typing up a storm.

Replies to first post:

Hydraspit: Yeah, I thought so too. But I wanted to see if you guys thought it was a good idea first. I hope you like it better now. J

Mrs.MaryGrint479: Thank you so much. I am going to do the whole trio. Sorry it took so long coming.

Angal10: Thank you. I always believe that reviews with all caps are really heartfelt, tee hee.

Twisted-fate05: Thank you very much. I'll probably post, give you guys a chance to review and post again! So as long as you keep those reviews coming, the chapters will be coming, too. No, I'm joking, they'll come whether or not you review, but please do it anyways!


	2. Blue Eyes

**Author's Note**: Alright this one was the hardest to write. I mean, what does Hermione want most in the world? Argh.

Oh, and by the way, I got out of school for the summer yesterday, so expect many postings.

**Chapter 2 **

**Blue Eyes**

"So...er...who's going next?" Harry asked, feeling a bit more cautious after Ron's turn.

"I will," Hermione said bravely. Figuring it'd be better than sitting next to her defeated-looking friend, she glanced at Ron, then went to the box. The Rose had recovered and was now squirming around like before. Hermione reached in, with one finger out and closed her eyes, inching closer. The Rose froze and then the vines caught and wrapped around her hand. They swallowed her arm and engulfed her shoulder, before settling the core on her chest. By then, she had sat down on the stool that Ron had moved off of.

The needle pierced her. She gasped, and then her head bobbed forward and her eyes rolled. Her hair fell in front of her face.

Ron felt sorry for her. He leaned her head against the wall, and brushed her hair from her face gently. Harry watched as Ron's hand lingered a moment too long on her cheek. He thought he knew something of what Ron's dream must have included.

* * *

_Hermione shuffled through some papers on her desk in the Headmaster's office of Hogwarts. A portrait of wizened old Dumbledore looked happily down at her and she smiled at her old mentor. She then set her quill to answering a letter from the Ministry about the fourth Tri-Wizard Tournament that was scheduled for next year, as she stroked Fawkes, whom she had inherited as a gift form Dumbledore himself._

_The door swung open and was followed by the Minster of Magic: Neville Longbottom. Neville was dressed in fine green and blue robes. A pocket watch chain hung from one of his embroidered pockets. His face was troubled and his eyebrows furrowed._

_"Good afternoon, Neville," Hermione said carefully, hoping that for him this was indeed a good afternoon. She took her hand from Fawkes and interlocked her fingers on the desk, lifting an eyebrow at the apparent emotional state of her friend._

_"Afternoon, Hermione," he said hurriedly, barely stepping through the door. "You must hurry. We'll be late the trial."_

_Hermione gasped. "I thought it was at four," she said, starting up and gathering a few of her papers._

_"They moved it again. Trying that old trick they used with Harry in fifth year. Trying to make us miss it." Neville stood near the door, fidgeting and shifting his weight nervously from foot to foot._

_"Alright, I'm coming." Hermione weaved around tall stacks of books and towards the door. Right before she walked out, she swung around. "Professor Dumbledore, could you alert Harry and the Council that we are on our way and should be there shortly? Thank you." The old Headmaster nodded and disappeared silently from his painting._

_Hermione and Neville descended a flight of stairs towards the teacher's lounge, where the best fireplace in the school was. No one was in the lounge, it was during class hours. They each grabbed a small handful of Floo Powder and entered the intricate stone fireplace one at a time._

_Using Floo Powder, they were at the Ministry in moments. A quick brushing off of soot and they were ready for Draco Malfoy's murder trial. They rushed down to the last floor the lifts reached and hurried down the corridor, ignoring waving armor statues and paintings giggling at the frazzled looking officials._

_Harry was waiting for them at the entrance to the long corridor leading to Courtroom Number Six, where Draco and the Ministry were waiting. He leaned against the wall, messing with the sprout of hair on his chin._

_"H'lo, Hermione," he said, lowering his hand and merging to their lessened pace._

_"Hello, Harry," Hermione said, smiling at him. He smiled and the scar on his forehead was concealed by his fringe. It had faded considerably since they had defeated Voldemort at Godric's Hollow years ago. Harry had become considerably more comfortable and contented, personality wise, since then as well. "Sorry we're late."_

_"It's fine. Not like he's going anywhere," Harry said with obvious indirect disdain, as his smile quickly vanished._

_They entered the chamber. It was cold as Draco's heart and none brighter._

_Malfoy was being charged with countless murders of Muggles and Muggle-borns during and after the war. Now he was being brought to justice. Nothing, absolutely nothing could have made Hermione happier than this._

_Ron, sitting in his chair in the rows of the court, leaned forward and winked at her._

_Well, almost nothing._

_Hermione sat on Neville's right hand, and on Ron's left, and Harry, the top Auror in the magical world, sat at the Minister's left. Ron slid his hand over and grabbed hers, discreetly squeezing it for courage._

_This was Malfoy's last trial. Never again would he be brought before the court. The verdict was to be announced in moments._

_"Draco Malfoy," Neville, beginning Malfoy's trial summarization, stood up. Draco swung his head to stare at the Minister. It had to be unnerving for Neville, with those frighteningly senseless eyes fixed on him. Malfoy's prematurely greying hair was unruly and matted. He looked insane. "You are brought here under numerous charges of kidnapping, torture and murder. How do you plead?"_

_"Innocent. I kidnapped, tortured and murdered," he said, mocking Neville, "nothing but animals." He began laughing. He sat in the chair in the center of the room, chains wrapped around his limbs. His eyes rolled and wandered, he breathed loudly through his mouth in between insane cackles. It was believed by many that Voldemort had driven him mad. Hermione believed it too, and held Ron's hand tightly._

_The trial went on, the condensed evidence undisputable. He was guilty. No one could say otherwise except himself. But everyone knew he was crazy. Harry had captured Draco not without a struggle after one of his murderous sprees, and Harry had a another scar on his arm from his former classmate._

_He was found guilty of all charges and sentenced to the Dementors' Kiss. Most Dementors had been destroyed after the war. But a few had been saved, and magically imprisoned themselves, for the closest followers of Voldemort, who had never blinked at murder and torture._

_All of them had been rounded up and imprisoned. They got what they deserved. Draco was getting the last Kiss._

_"Hermione, it's over. Malfoy was the last," Ron whispered. "After eleven years, the war is completely over," he said, more to himself than her._

* * *

"She looks happy, doesn't she?" Ron said quietly. The leaf had made him feel better, but he was still a bit shaky.

"Yeah. Wonder what she's thinking." Harry fidgeted and watched some of the other students in the room. But he just couldn't take it anymore. "Erm...Ron...What happened?"

Ron diverted his saddened blue eyes and shrugged. "Nothing really," he sighed. "Just a nightmare."

The Rose bloomed spectacularly just then. Harry sprinkled the powder among the petals.

* * *

_Draco was being hauled away by two Aurors at wand point, laughing and mumbling to himself (Hermione was reminded of Sirius' old house-elf, Kreacher). They were taking him to Azkaban to receive his Kiss._

_Suddenly, he twisted sharply and grabbed one of the Auror's wands. Two Killing Curses. That's all he needed. He was deadly fast and infamous for the fact that he never hesitated. He was a born killer. Two corpses collapsed to the floor. Hermione's heart filled with a rage she hadn't felt in years, not since the day Voldemort was killed._

_He Apparated up to where Hermione, Harry, Neville and Ron now stood. They dared not move. No one else did either. The four of them held secrets no one else knew. If any one of them were killed, so much could be lost. No one in the room moved. The blond rat used the Imperius Curse to control four wizards near them to hold Neville, Ron and Hermione. No matter what anyone said of him, they couldn't deny that Draco was powerful._

_"Potter," Draco spat. "You've ruined my life." He cast a short blast of the Crutacius Curse. "But more importantly you ruined my father's." Tears seeped from Draco's endlessly cold eyes. Another quick spell. By now Harry was on his knees, panting in pain, but it was his infectious resolve to never scream for a Death Eater that kept him silent. "And above all," he said with a malicious grin, as Harry slowly raised his hateful eyes, "you devastated the Dark Lord's noble plans for a pure race of wizards. But I digress" -yet another Curse here- "I take great honor in being the one who finally takes your fluke of a life." Draco's eyes seemed to portray a deeper hatred than Hermione had ever seen as he flicked his wand one last time and screamed, "Avada Kedavra!"_

_Harry collapsed to the stone floor, murdered the same way as the parents he had never known._

_Draco turned his heartless eyes on Neville, who was held by one large wizard. Neville spat on the floor in front of him. Draco laughed and spat in Neville's face._

_"Longbottom," he said. He laughed at just Neville's name. "You are a disgrace to purebloods. I'm ashamed to even look at you and Weasley. Our race was, is, being infected. Muggle-borns and half-bloods, leaking wizardly information to their Muggle," he practically spat the word, "species. Soon there will be Muggles begging us to fulfill their deepest wishes. And for what! Their benefit. They will burn us and murder us until we are no more. Don't you understand!" He grabbed Neville's face under his chin and shook his head. "I didn't think so." A green burst of light that no one expected and the large wizard dropped Neville's body on the ground._

_"Now," Draco grinned maliciously. He pulled out a round black stone and forced Ron and Hermione to touch it. The Port Key took them to a dark dungeon. Draco chained them to the wall. Their wands were taken. The chains were covered with dried blood, but Hermione couldn't care less._

_He tortured them until Ron bled from struggling in his chains and Hermione bit her lip so deep that it, too, bled. They would not give him their screams._

_"Mudblood. Muggle-lover. Disgusting girl. Pathetic child." Draco yelled and swung his wand back and forth between them, giving them their turn in short bursts. Ron passed out finally, and Draco spoke._

_"Granger." He turned his deathlike eyes on her once again. "You should never have come into our world."_

_She expected him to kill her. She almost wanted him to, to escape the pain, her own and the indirect ache caused by seeing Ron in so much pain that she couldn't stop._

_She was almost accepting of her death when she found a terribl, wonderful feeling flooding her senses. She knew it, and as soon as her foggy mind registered what it was, she tried to scream. She tried, but she couldn't._

_It was the Imperius Curse. Only Draco could be this cruel. The Curse took over completely then._

_"Stand up, Granger," he said, a smile in his voice. She felt so compelled to obey, why not? Standing, she hit the limit of her restraints. Draco magically unlocked them._

_"Come here, Mudblood." She took a step._

_No! Stop! her mind screamed. Harry can beat this, so can you! Don't do it! Try as she might, another step, and another were the only things to follow her internal conflict._

_As she approached him, Draco slid a wand out of his sleeve. It was hers. He held it out to her handle first grinning wickedly. "Take it," he said. His voice was so persuasive now. She took it, stiffly, as thought she were a puppet, and not nearly as alive as she felt, struggling against her body._

_Draco turned to Ron, who groaned and looked up, to find Hermione not where she had been, chained against the opposite wall, but standing sedately next to the lunatic who had murdered his best friend and Neville, and so many others. What had happened?_

_Draco leaned in to Hermione and whispered in her ear. "Kill him."_

_NO! Never! Her mind reeled. She had to fight it, to stop this. She couldn't, wouldn't. She loved Ron, she could never hurt him, much less kill him!_

_"Kill him," Draco hissed impatiently. Ron didn't hear. Hermione struggled, and her body began to shake. "Imperio!" Draco said, pointing his wand at her. The spell was reinforced, and she levels her wand at Ron._

_His eyes widened in horrible realization. "Hermione," he said quietly, standing up. "Hermione, do it. There's nothing left. We can't escape. This war will never stop. Harry is dead, Neville is dead. We don't have the power to stop him anymore." He looked up at her. "I love you."_

_Her mouth cast the spell, and a horrendous flare of green light lit the dungeon. A tall, dark mass of robes fell to the floor. Ron's beautiful, empty blue eyes stared up at Hermione, as the curse released her._

* * *

Hermione jerked awake. She squeaked and shoved the Rose off of her like it was white hot. Breathing as if she had just been chased by an angry hippogriff, she stared off at nothing. Harry handed her a leaf and she put it on her tongue. Getting the nerve to look at Ron, she met his eyes and held his lively stare.

**A/N:** Whew. That was a sucky chapter to write. Please please please review that. I hope you like it more than I do. I mean, I like it. But wow. Just...arrgh.

**Review replies:**

**Dark Fire Chain**: Thank you. I've got Harry's reality finished, and I'm just tweaking it and such.

**Jeevesandwooster**: Oh, thank you so much. I had to change this one a bunch, or I would've posted sooner, now I'm out of school, so I'll be posting a lot.

**Hydraspit:** Thanks. Yeah, I didn't bother with details at first, I just wanted to see if it was a decent idea. Now I hope I have more fulfilled the detail quota. Thanks for reviewing!

**Mrs.MaryGrint479:** Thank you, I'm doing all three of the trio's obviously. Harry's is finished for the most part, I just have to tweak it a bit.

**Angal10**: Thank you so much. Reviews in capital letters always make me feel awesome.

**Twisted-fate05**: Thanks! I'll probably post Harry's reality soon.


	3. Never

**Author's Notes**: Alright, it must be said. This of course was the easiest chapter to write. But I, as always am critical.

Harry's chapterisn't really the life he wants, but hey. It's what he wants that would make the life he wants possible. Three guesses what he gets.

Well this is the last chapter my friends. I didn't feel like writing for Neville or Draco or anything ridiculous like that. Tee hee. I'm going to go ahead and reply to the reviews up here, because if I were to down there, it would lower the whole tone of the ending, and you wouldn't be able to ponder it.

Review replies:

Rupertsgrl1479: Thanks. Yeah, I posted it again, because I edited it A LOT and added a whole bunch of stuff. Not that much in this chapter, but a lot more in the others. The story is finished, it's pretty short, but it's not too bad, if I do say so myself. I just want you guys to have a chance to review before I post the next chapter.

jeevesandwooster: Thank you. I thought it was pretty clever, too.

Lissy: Thank you, and here you are.

hydraspit: Thank you so much. I hope you like this one as much as the last. Oh and SQUEE! that Fallen From Grace is going to continue! I like that story.

One last note, for the first chapter, I removed the whole story and posted it again so that the people who had already read it would read it again because I changed it a lot. Yes. Well. Onwards.

****

**Chapter 3 **

Never

"That...oh, Ron," Hermione was practically speechless. That was a first. She looked at her red-headed friend empathetically. She couldn't begin to fathom what he had dreamed.

Harry was already looking at the recovering Rose in it's box. He dreaded it. He hated it. Look what it had done to his friends. And to practically everyone else in the room. Students he trusted and despised alike were pale, forlorn, dejected.

Professor Sprout had never had a quieter class.

All Ron and Hermione could do was look at each other. It wasn't an awkward silence really. Just a silence. One of those exceedingly deafening ones.

Until Harry hit the floor.

The Rose was wrapped around the thin boy's frame. Hermione helped Ron drag him onto the stool and lean him comfortably against the wall.

"Three guesses what he gets," grumbled Ron.

* * *

Harry seemed to fly. He couldn't see his body at all, but he could see everything below him. He passed over a small village, it was night and only a few streetlamps were on.

Then he found himself approaching a forest, passing over it, then coming up on a clearing and diving lower.

He watched as a shadowy, cloaked figure advanced upon a small, quaint house. One light was on in the first floor.

Harry flew through the walls into the room with the light. A beautiful red-haired woman rocked a black-haired child in her arms, absently humming to him while she looked at a book.

A man with glasses and scraggly black hair, who looked unsurprisingly like Harry, except with stronger facial features and a few more worry lines, sat in an armchair and read the Daily Prophet. **Disappearance of the Potters Puzzles All** _was the headline. Of course, it didn't really puzzle **everyone**. Quite a trusted few knew where they were. But of course, the idiotic reporters at the Daily Prophet just couldn't resist pointing it out and bringing attention to it. Two pictures, one of Lily and one of James were featured under the headline. James grinned up smugly, like he had a secret that he wanted to hold over everyone's heads. Lily beamed and met Harry's nonexistent eyes somehow. A wave of a very strange feeling swept over him. And he knew he was smiling._

* * *

And he was. His real self was grinning proudly, a truly happy smile, not layered over with guilt or rage or worry. Harry seldom smiled like that anymore. Hermione and Ron were taking unknowing turns glancing at one another. They kept missing the other one's fleeting glimpses, and so each felt that the other was angry or something. The comfortable silence between them had very quickly become a terribly awkward one.

Hermione feigned a coughing fit, so she could turn away from Ron and wipe her watering eyes. Ron pretended to sneeze as she did this, so he had an excuse to sniffle a bit. Hermione turned back and looked at him as Ron continued his sham and closed his eyes and rubbed his nose, as if it were bothering him. She looked awayjust beforehe ended his charade and peeked at her.

Each of them desperately wanted to say something, but neither could find the words to do it.

* * *

Lily turned a page and held her sleeping baby one armed. Her shining red hair cascaded down her shoulders, brushing the baby's nose. James leaned over and pushed the nose-tickling rogue strands over her shoulder. She looked up from her book and at him, wrinkling her nose with a smile.

Suddenly, a door slammed open loudly two rooms away. Lily and James looked away from each other and both their heads whipped towards the sound.

"Is Peter supposed to visit tonight?" Lily asked quietly. She knew he wasn't. Lily was bright, she quickly realized that her worst fears were becoming a reality. Betrayal. She never had trusted that little rat.

"No," James said, and he knew as well. "He's not." James shook his head and stood up, pulling out his wand. "Lily. Go. Take Harry. I'll hold him off." He kissed her and pointed towards a corner of the room where the wall and the floor met. Then he turned towards the door.

"No, James." Lily reached out and laid her hand on his cheek, turning his head back to her. "I'm not leaving you," she whispered stubbornly. She was determined, she always had been. You could see it in her bright green eyes. They sparkled with the will to fight.

"I love you, Lily," James said, putting his callused hands on her shoulders. "You have to go. You have to protect Harry." He ran his hand through the baby Harry's hair lovingly and headed for the door. Lily watched after him.

"James, wait. Help me," She whispered. She struggled with the trap door to their escape route. James came back and heaved the heavy door open. Lily set Harry on the fourth step, then came back, kissed her husband, and closed the door.

"But Lily-"

"Shh, James." She gently laid a finger across his lips. "Even if he kills us, Harry will be safe. Albus will make sure of that. But I'm not leaving you." With the stubbornness James had always adored, she pulled out her wand, locked the trap door several times and lead the way through the door, anger lighting in her eyes. Lily reminded James of a mother bear, ready to do anything to protect her cub.

He followed her and Harry could no longer see them. He willed this vision to allow him the sight, but he was planted in this room.

The whisper of cloth on wood. Harry couldn't stand not being able to see what was happening. He tried to yell to his parents. Nothing.

A hiss, a shout, a shriek and various colorful blasts of light converged for several minutes. Harry wanted to scream with frustration.

Then a sound, the most exasperating onomatopoeia Harry had ever been forced to endure. A resounding THUD.

Lily Evans rushed back to the trap door, casting unlocking spells as she went. Dropping her wand and falling to her knees, she grabbed the previously inexistent metal ring and heaved. James came in, helped her and saw that Harry still slept. Lily gently picked up her baby. James kissed her and looked her in the eye.

"We're free."

* * *

Hermione wiped a treacherous tear from her cheek before speaking.

"Ron, look. I-," she said. She had been about to say something, anything. But at that despicable second, the Rose had bloomed and her courage had waned. She pointed at the blossom as a scapegoat for her words.

Ron reached behind him to the table and grabbed the jar. He flicked a bit of powder on the beautiful flower. He let out a sympathetic sigh for his best friend as it withered.

* * *

"Free?" A high, icy laugh erupted from the shadows. "Never. You will **never **be free, Harry Potter. Never," the cold voice jeered quietly. A snake, a huge black snake, the snake that haunted Harry's nightmares, slithered from the darkness and snatched the sleeping baby from his motherwith it's tail. The infant woke up and began to whimper.

More snakes erupted from every dark corner, every shadow, every gloomy space in the world, it seemed. They slithered towards Harry's parents. One grabbed and swallowed Lily's wand. James blasted as many as he could, holding Lily beside him and yelling war cries. But there were too many. For every one he killed, ten more appeared.

He kept blasting as they covered his and Lily's feet. Lily cried out and, with a newfound visciousness, kicked and stomped as many as she could, until they entangled her legs and made her fall to her knees. James fell with her, and the snakes enveloped them, until Harry could no longer see his parents.

"Free?" the black snake hissed with a twist of malicious humor in it's voice, opening it's mouth upon the child. "Never."

* * *

Harry slowly opened his eyes. The Rose's nightmare had been predictable, exactly what they had all imagined. But of course it had.

The Boy-Who-Lived would never be free.


End file.
